Improvement in car-starters



UNITED AS'rzrrns PATENT OFFICE?.

AMOS WHITTEMORE, OF GAMBRIDGEPORT, MASSACHUSETTS.

VuvIPRovElvu-:NT 1N cAR-sTARTERs.

v :Specification forming part of ,Letters Patent No. 177,604, dated May16,1876; application filed i November 20, 1875.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AMos WHITTEMORE, of

Cambridgeport, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts,have invented a new and valuable Improvement in Car-Starters;

and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the construction and operation of the same, referencebeing had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification,Vand to the letters and -figures of reference marked thereon.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a representation of a plan view of mymechanism for starting cars, and Fig. 2 is a longitudinal verticalsectional view of the same. Fig. 3 is a side view thereof, and Figs. 4and 5 are detail views.

This invention has relation to improvements in car-starters, wherein themomentum ofthe car is employed for storin g up a reserve force,

which, when expended, will start the car after after a halt, will startthe car, independent of any power exercised by the draft-animals,thereby relieving them of great strain andlabor. It also consists incombining with the operating eccentric gear-wheel an eccentric wheelkeyed upon the shaft of the former at each side of the car, which wheelswill bear upon the axle of the car when its end is raised by theeccentric gear-wheel, thereby preventing it from tilting or swaying fromside to side. It also consists in combining with thesupporting-eccentrics and the lifting-eccentric a lever or levers,whereby the said raising-eccentric is. thrown into gear with the axle,and thereby causes the momentum. of the car to raise its end, whereby areserve force is stored up for starting the car. It also consists in,

means, substantially as hereinafter explained,

whereby, at the starting of the car, this reserve force may be expendedand the car moved forward without effort on the part of thedraft-animals, as will be fully understood `from the followingdescription.

In the annexed drawings, A designates-the body of a street railway car,which is mounted on Wheels B, applied on axles B', the axleboxes a ofwhich are allowed free vertical play in the brackets C by being guidedin vertical slots b formed therein. This play I take advantage of forkeeping the wheels on the track while using the starting device, as willbe hereinafter explained. C. represents a second shaft, rotating inbearings in hangers c, and arranged directly over shaftB, upon whichshaft U is eccentrically keyed a gear-wheel, D, and at each side thereofan eccentric wheel, E.

Gear-wheel D and eccentrics E are each provided with a peripheral notch,d, which overhangs shaft B', so that under ordinary circumstances thesaid wheel will not be in contact therewith. As shown in Fig. 1, shaft Bis provided with a gear-Wheel, e, keyed thereon or cast therewith, withwhich the eccentric gear-wheel D will engage under circumstanceshereinafter explained.` Eccentrics E are provided with 4pins fprojecting therefrom, with which vertically-vibrating angular levers F Fare adapted to engage. Lever F has its fulcrum at' g in a hanger, g', onthe front end of the car, and it extends upward within convenientreachbf the driver, its rear end being under pin f. When lever Fisthrust to the front it will,through the medium of pin f and i eccentricE, bring the eccentric gear-wheel D into engagement with gear-wheel e,when the rotation of the axle will cause the eccentric wheel toturn, andthereby raise the front end of the car, as shown in Fig. 5, when a cam,G, on shaft C', will be brought forcibly into con,` tact with avertically-vibrating rod or bar, H, pivoted to the underside of the car,and pivotally connected, by means of jointed lockingrods h h', thelatter being pivoted to bar H at i, to one end of nahorizontall'y-vibrating bar, I, pivoted to the lower end of a hanger,j,rigidlyTV secured to the car-bottom. Bar I is connected,'by means ofrods la k', to brake-rods l of brake-shoes l consequently, when bar H isvibrated -by the force applied by cam G, it will actuate bar I andoperate the brakes automatically, thus arresting the car and holding itin the raised position shown in Fig. 5.

a umso-1 brakes,7 by means of connecting-rods c' d',

which extend front and rear from lever J, and

' are rigidly secured to one-.end lof avertically-5k vibratin g angularlever, K, having its fulcrum at o in an arm, a', extending downwardfromy the bottom of the car. Levers K are operated by means ofthe'ordinary brake-rods L,`having' a worm, p, working in ascrew-threaded sleeve,- q, rigidly secured in the front and rear endsofthe car, with which the said levers are con-z nected in Aany suitablemanner, but preferablyf rigidly'secured Ato ,the said rod, and confiningthe bifurcated end of` by means of aV disk, r,

the said levers thereto. When vrods L are caused to rotate by anysuitable manner, so

as `to raise'the power-arms* of levers K,the

trigger m will unlock rods It 11.','and thus take` Voff brakes. Ii' theslightest start be now given to the car its weight and that of itscontents will actuate eccentric D, causing it to rotate` the car-axleB'throughthe medium of gearwheel e thereon, thereby turning Nthe wheels;

and starting the car, 'thus-doing away'with the immense strain put uponlthe draft-animals lwhen overcoming the. inertia of thecar.

Lever F', before'alluded tto, is vof angular form,'and'l1as its fulcrumin va hanger, t, de-

-pending from and rigidly secured Vto the carbottom, its weight endbeing in engagement 4with pin f on the other eccentric wheel'E,

and its power end connected by'means of a rod, u, to avertically-vibrating lever, M', on 'therear end of the car. thrustoutward it will bring eccentric gear- `wheel-D into engagementwit-hgear-wheel e on axle B', thus raising g the rear end 4of the car,and enabling meto give the said car van independent start in whicheverdirection itl may be going. Y

Inpractice, operating-levers M and F' will lbe returned, after beingactuated, to their normal positions by means of a spring, S, one

end of which is secured to the'car-bottom, and

the other connected by means of arod, u', to the upper end of angularlever F', thus placing or setting them ready for a subsequent actuation.Lever F, on the front vend ofthe car, will also be returned to itspos'ition'by means of a similar spring, S','wl1ich is secured tothe'car-bottom'and connected to thejpower-` 'arm of the said lever, asshown in Fig. l.

In practice, eccentric wheels E will be suffi- When this .'lever isciently large, not only to prevent the car from tilting, but `also to.prevent the-eccentric gearwheel Dfrom binding when in engagement withgear-wheel e on the shaft, the e'ect of Whichis that the starter isrendered far more sensitive, and all unnecessary wear of the saidgear-wheels isnprevented.

'In practice,`brakerods L .will 'be utilized, independently of any otherfunction heretofore explain ed,.for operating the brakes, by connectingthe latter with the said rods by means of rods, ropes, or chains o.

It will be vreadily understood from the above explanation that thepowerv exercised by eccentric gear-wheel D will increase with the weightof the passengers in the car-in other words, will be proportionate totheinertia ,to be overcome. .Trigger m, ,above explained, ,will alsoberetracte'd from" jointed ro'ds h h' Yby means o'f va similar spring,S2, `one end `of which lis secured tothe car-bottom, and the Iother.connected by avrod,z.r'to the lever J, thusleaving them free to,gravitateito a locking position, as above set forth.

`The starting devices above described may be -coveredin or not, as I`may elect, to protect them fromaccumulations of snow, ice, and otherclogging substances.

What Ivclaim as new, and desiretosecure by LettersPatent, is-

1. In combination with the vertically-movable axle B', Vhavinggear-Wheel-athe eccentric gear-wheel D, adapted to 'he thrown intoengagement with gear-wheele, substantially as specified. v

2. In combination with-,the eccentric gearwheel lD and thevertically-movable yaxle B', havin gy gear-wheel e, thesupporting-eccentrics E, substantially asl specified.

'3. In combination Awith shaft 'G',`having eccentric gear-wheel D andleccentric Wheels E, land the shaft B', having l:gear e, theoperating-levers F F', engaging with the said eccentric wheels,substantially as specified, and .for the purpose set forth.

4. In combination with' the shaft C', having cam G, thevertically-vibratin g lever H, jointed locking-rods h h','lever I,rodsfk 7a', and .the brakes Z l', substantially 'as specified.

-5. In combination withlthe upwardly-ilexing joint-rods h h', thetrigger m, operated `substantially as set forth.

In testimony that'I Yclaim the above I have hereunto-subscribed my'namein the presenceof two witnesses.

p YAMOS WHI-TTEMORE. Witnessesz WALTER A. MASI, EMoRY H. BATES.

